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Trump threatens to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea.

Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
Wouldn't the Chinese or Russians quietly sell missile/nuclear tech to North Korea if they really don't want the US to take out North Korea?

That'd be the fastest way to make the US pause anyway
 
USA 2017

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The last Republican President sold the country on preemptive war. How do you have such high confidence that White House and Congress holds the restraint from going down this path once again?

Conspiracy hat: Bush knew all along Iraq didn't have WMD's, so he wasn't afraid of attacking.
We know DPRK has nukes.
 
*Shrugs* Trump is merely restating official US policy towards NK. No need for hysterics.

You must not understand what goes on in DPRK.

The regime in DPRK takes rhetoric like this and turns it into propaganda to convince the masses that they are righteous and the US wishes to annihilate DPRK- the US president said so in no uncertain terms here. Trump couldn't have been more generous.

If you're smart, you keep the fiery rhetoric to a minimum to limit how much ammo you give DPRK to use as propaganda. Trump is not smart.
 

Schattenjäger

Gabriel Knight
You must not understand what goes on in DPRK.

The government takes rhetoric like this and turns it into propaganda for the regime. They use it as evidence that the regime is correct, that the US wishes to annihilate DPRK. Trump couldn't have been more generous.

If you're smart, you keep the fiery rhetoric to a minimum to limit how much ammo you give DPRK to use as propaganda. Trump is not smart.
I think Trump's rhetoric is aimed more at China and Russia to do more

The DPRK has more than enough propaganda
 

slit

Member
Wouldn't the Chinese or Russians quietly sell missile/nuclear tech to North Korea if they really don't want the US to take out North Korea?

That'd be the fastest way to make the US pause anyway

He is talking about if NK strikes first, in which case the U.S. wouldn't be able to pause.
 
If forced....


Which could just mean when Trump is backed into a corner and needs to change whatever narrative is happening at home.


I don't trust this clown in the slightest, of course I'm not going to assume he'll only attack in response to a direct and immediate threat.
 

Big Blue

Member
You must not understand what goes on in DPRK.

The regime in DPRK takes rhetoric like this and turns it into propaganda to convince the masses that they are righteous and the US wishes to annihilate DPRK- the US president said so in no uncertain terms here. Trump couldn't have been more generous.

If you're smart, you keep the fiery rhetoric to a minimum to limit how much ammo you give DPRK to use as propaganda. Trump is not smart.

Do you really think that it hasn't been this way for decades????
 

Blader

Member
You must not understand what goes on in DPRK.

The regime in DPRK takes rhetoric like this and turns it into propaganda to convince the masses that they are righteous and the US wishes to annihilate DPRK- the US president said so in no uncertain terms here. Trump couldn't have been more generous.

If you're smart, you keep the fiery rhetoric to a minimum to limit how much ammo you give DPRK to use as propaganda. Trump is not smart.

Far be it from me to defend Trump on anything, but this speech is not exactly going to push the needle on North Korean propaganda efforts. Kim Jong Un and his father have been forcefeeding that message to their people for decades.
 
Schattenjäger;249324417 said:
I think Trump's rhetoric is aimed more at China and Russia to do more

The DPRK has more than enough propaganda

Far be it from me to defend Trump on anything, but this speech is not exactly going to push the needle on North Korean propaganda efforts. Kim Jong Un and his father have been forcefeeding that message to their people for decades.

Do you really think that it hasn't been this way for decades????


Oh, ok. Pile it on then, no need to use our brains and do the smart thing. Apparently we're past that point. Good thing we have Trump since shit doesn't matter.
 

SRG01

Member
Stop giving the NK regime ammo to indoctrinate their people even more.

The indoctrination barely works in North Korea anymore, as so much information is leaked in from South Korea now.

Watch some Youtube videos of North Korean defectors, especially the younger 20-30 somethings. It's really eyeopening.
 

mdubs

Banned
How about posting what was actually said as the thread title rather that blatant clickbait.

Exactly. Trump is just restating what has been the US stance forever, that they will blow the hell out of North Korea if they attack first. The thread title is terrible because it makes it sounds like Trump made some sort of unconditional threat as opposed to "if you attack first I will destroy you" which is markedly different.

Of course he's saying it in the dumbest way possible, but this doctrine has been around for quite a while.
 

Oriel

Member
lol so far it's been useless for the US, considering we let them develop their own deterrent.

A nuclear deterrent is exactly that, a deterrent towards other nations contemplating attacking the US. It doesn't prevent other nations acquiring nukes.

You must not understand what goes on in DPRK.

The regime in DPRK takes rhetoric like this and turns it into propaganda to convince the masses that they are righteous and the US wishes to annihilate DPRK- the US president said so in no uncertain terms here. Trump couldn't have been more generous.

If you're smart, you keep the fiery rhetoric to a minimum to limit how much ammo you give DPRK to use as propaganda. Trump is not smart.

Yeah, except NK will do all that anyway, every action the US takes will be used by Pyongyang for propaganda purposes.

Is Trump being helpful here? No. North Korea's destruction is a given if it attacked the US. They already know that. But let's not be taking these comments as a sign the bombers are on their way NK imminently.
 

Giganteus

Member
How about posting what was actually said as the thread title rather that blatant clickbait.
The United States' definition of being forced to defend itself against North Korea is what I'd like to know at this point. It sounds purely defensive as always, but their definition of defense may change to getting rid of NK's capability to hit CONUS. I get the sense the US hasn't made their final decision yet and there is more uncertainty than we realize.
 

Izuna

Banned
So all NK needs to do to get their people to hate America is to show them Trump transcripts.

Think about that.
 

scotcheggz

Member
Yeah guys! Don't take this out of context! It sounds so much better with the conditional!

The man is a fucking moron no matter which way you swing it and this kind of speech is the stuff that facepalming was made for.
 
Schattenjäger;249324915 said:
And what exactly is the smart thing? Stick to the status quo? The status quo got us to this point

What kind of argument is that? Is that a 'shake things up' take?

If you have a dictator who bases his entire regime on anti-US sentiment, constantly bombarding his country with anti-US propaganda, you don't give that dictator more ammo to use. Put yourself in the shoes of a citizen of DPRK- you see and hear the US president talk about totally destroying your country, and the US has totally destroyed your country before. I mean, completely leveled it to where there was no target left to destroy. The people believe that the US is an aggressor and will try to destroy them. You don't go and tell those people that the US is going to totally destroy you, regardless of the condition for that destruction. It's stupid.

Even Putin was publicly calling Trump out about being stupid and doing exactly what DPRK wants with the rhetoric.
 

Oersted

Member
"Complete destruction of a country"

Sure

"Assassination of a President"

Don't you even go there



Its a bit irritating
 
And how are we gonna deal with the fallout and likely complete disaster that South Korea will be? What about refugees? How are we gonna deal with them? This man does not think at all. Fuck him.
 

Big Blue

Member
Oh, ok. Pile it on then, no need to use our brains and do the smart thing. Apparently we're past that point. Good thing we have Trump since shit doesn't matter.

Have you heard of DRPK? It doesn't matter what anyone says. Kim John-Un will always dictate the narrative. If Trump said nothing, Kim Jong-Un will make shit up anyways. You're lost in the clouds if you think playing nice with North Korea is an options.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
Can't he and Kim just get a damn ruler and whip it out? It would save everyone else a whole lot of trouble.

Okay, maybe not a ruler. Maybe an electron microscope or something.
 

Schattenjäger

Gabriel Knight
What kind of argument is that? Is that a 'shake things up' take?

If you have a dictator who bases his entire regime on anti-US sentiment, constantly bombarding his country with anti-US propaganda, you don't give that dictator more ammo to use. Put yourself in the shoes of a citizen of DPRK- you see and hear the US president talk about totally destroying your country, and the US has totally destroyed your country before. I mean, completely leveled it to where there was no target left to destroy. The people believe that the US is an aggressor and will try to destroy them. You don't go and tell those people that the US is going to totally destroy you, regardless of the condition for that destruction. It's stupid.

Even Putin was publicly calling Trump out about being stupid and doing exactly what DPRK wants with the rhetoric.
I don't want to keep going in circles but.. I'm sure the people there hate us already.. another speech won't change much
However, a little fiery rhetoric might make China and Russia change their stance a little .. but probably not .. at the very least it speaks to Trump's base and that's a win for him
 

erragal

Member
Unless n. Korea actually kills an individual in a sovereign nations borders any military action by the US will result in they bearing the sole moral responsibility for every casualty. Ten million + north and south Koreans minimum and at least some number of Chinese/Japanese individuals.

It may not have the sheer focused hatefulness of the holocaust but as a species we're not really too keen on anyone deciding to murder that many people because of political grandstanding and phantom fears. If there really is a way to see the fall of American hegemony, that is inflection point.

Because the US is in zero danger from N. Korea. Absolutely none. Anyone that believes otherwise has either been deceived or is lying.
 

dumbo

Member
The United States' definition of being forced to defend itself against North Korea is what I'd like to know at this point. It sounds purely defensive as always, but their definition of defense may change to getting rid of NK's capability to hit CONUS. I get the sense the US hasn't made their final decision yet and there is more uncertainty than we realize.
Yep, the question is whether the US will allow NK to develop a short/long-range nuclear weapon capability. If NK gains that capability, then the world will be "impotent" against NK aggression in the region.

My own guess is that the US will take "pre-emptive" military action... but that action would need some (at least informal) agreement with China/Russia.
 
Those are some pretty harsh words but when it comes down to it I can't think of any scenario where NK launches a nuke against someone and doesn't get destroyed. I imagine that the people would even demand it.

The scary thing about military action was the retaliation against South Korea and Japan. With each passing day it looks more and more like we'll be living with nuclear North Korea.The scary thing about that is not knowing where it leads. Will they decide to sell because these sanctions are drying up all their money? Will it ever get to the point where the leadership decides it's not worth it anymore and just launches every which way? Seems unlikely but at least before it was impossible now it is quickly moving from impossible to possible. How does the US react to an NK that threatens retaliation if the US tries to defend its allies? How far into the future could the apparently crippling sanctions last? Could Kim and crew ever have a change of heart as a result of sanctions or otherwise? Could the US have a change of heart and stop military drills and the like? Maybe promise to leave the peninsula and guarantee no US presence up against China/Russia? So many questions and virtually zero answers.
 
Schattenjäger;249326190 said:
I don't want to keep going in circles but.. I'm sure the people there hate us already.. another speech won't change much
However, a little fiery rhetoric might make China and Russia change their stance a little .. but probably not .. at the very least it speaks to Trump's base and that's a win for him

It's not that you're talking in circles, you're talking nonsense.

China and Russia facepalms at Trump's fiery rhetoric. It does nothing but makes them wonder how fucking stupid Americans must be to elect that idiot. Seriously, that's all it does.
 

Big Blue

Member
That is not a rational argument. "It's already messed up, how much more messed up can it get? Let's find out"

You know what happened after Obama tried to negotiate with North Korea? \

"In 2014, he warned that the United States ”will not hesitate to use our military might" to protect American allies."

If you want to get caught in a game of semantics, that's fine with me, but I'm not going to be outraged about what Trump said.
 
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